Re: [sumo] literal meanings

[Jim Bitgood <Jimbit2@comcast.net>]

I'm not sure the literal translations of the meanings of the kanji really 
have any meaning at all. You can do the same thing with the kanji in 
wrestlers' names, or even in the names of average people. Or you could 
translate "Smith" into Japanese. Will it really "mean" anything other than 
just the name of the person who carries it. Or the Russian name 
"Krivoruchka" would be translated as "Crooked Hand."
IMHO, it's fun, but it doesn't really mean much.

At 10:57 4/1/2005 +0300, you wrote:
> h.gilbert@auckland.ac.nz wrote:
> > AS you suggest, yokozuna means "sideways rope" and ozeki means "great 
> > barrier".
> > Sekiwake means "to the side of the barrier" and komusbi means "a small 
> > knot" or "a small connection". Maegashira means "leading (front) head"
>
> Hm. Looks like a set of military terms, apart from yokozuna. Could it be 
> some old military rank system or from some old battle formation? Yokozuna 
> would not fit there, being a later term...

     Jim
   "Chitose-Taikai"
      

[EndPost by Jim Bitgood <Jimbit2@comcast.net>]